:: 名詞 ::
miser 小氣鬼；守財奴；吝嗇鬼；鐵公雞
「miser」指非常愛錢又極度討厭花錢的人。miser的形容詞是「miserly」。
- A miser is avid of money. 守財奴都很汲汲營營。
- A typical miser, he hid his money in the house in various places. 他是個典型的吝嗇鬼，把錢藏在房子的各個角落裡。
- He had a reputation in the village for being a wealthy miser who would never pay for anything if he could possibly avoid it. 他是村裡有名的有錢小氣鬼，如果可以避免的話，絕不付任何一毛錢。
scrooge 小氣鬼；守財奴；吝嗇鬼；鐵公雞
scrooge跟miser一樣，不愛花錢。scrooge這個字來自於查爾斯‧狄更斯的書《聖誕頌歌》裡面的角色。
- He's a mean old scrooge! 他是個老吝嗇鬼！
- Scrooge is a character who learns how to be generous, in the book 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens.吝嗇鬼；守財奴（史古基是查爾斯‧狄更斯《聖誕頌歌》一書中的角色，他學習到慷慨大方之道）
- Don't become a scrooge who ends up dying alone and helping no one just to save more for retirement. 別只為了多存點錢退休而不幫助他人，最後孤單老死的守財奴。
cheapskate 小氣鬼；守財奴；吝嗇鬼；鐵公雞
cheap有「小氣的」的意思，skate在以前是罵人的話，指「刻薄又惡劣的傢伙」。
- My dad's such a cheapskate that he's put a lock on the telephone. 我爸爸真是個吝嗇鬼，連電話都上了鎖。
- My dad's such a cheapskate that he cuts his hair himself. 我爸爸真是個吝嗇鬼，連他的頭髮都自己剪。
- That cheapskate took his date to a cafeteria. 那個小氣鬼居然把女友帶到自助餐館約會。
- He is such a cheapskate that he refuses to tip waiters. 他吝嗇到連給服務生小費都不願意。
skinflint 吝嗇鬼，一毛不拔的人，鐵公雞
flint是「打火石」，skinflint原來形容一個人很小氣，不願意買新的打火石，所以舊的打火石就被磨得像皮膚一樣薄。
- He's a real skinflint.他真是個吝嗇鬼。
- They don't call you a skinflint for nothing. 他們不是無緣無故叫你鐵公雞。
- You couldn't get a crumb out of the old skinflint. 你從那個老吝嗇鬼身上是連一點麵粉屑都拿不到的。
tightwad 小氣鬼；守財奴；吝嗇鬼；鐵公雞
wad是量詞「一疊；一捆；一捲」，tightwad來自於「緊緊地握住一疊鈔票」的意象。
- There's no point in asking Joe to pay for it - he's a real tightwad. 別指望喬付錢——他是個十足的守財奴。
- He is rich but such a tightwad. 他有錢但是很吝嗇。
- It’s just an excuse not to give children any trick or treat candy isn’t it, you massive tightwad. 這只是一個藉口，不給小孩萬聖節糖果，你這個超級小氣鬼。
penny pincher 守財奴；小氣鬼
penny（便士）是英國最小的貨幣單位，100便士為1英鎊。pinch 是「捏」的意思。penny-pincher形象地描繪一個人連一點錢都不想付，緊緊捏住硬幣的樣子。
- He is a dreadful penny pincher. 他是個糟糕的小氣鬼。
- He is a penny pincher because he grew up in a poor family. 因為在窮人家長大，所以他成了一個鐵公雞。
- He takes offense at the notion he's a penny-pincher, insisting all his workers are paid above minimum wage. 他對把他視為小氣鬼的看法感到生氣，堅持他所有的員工薪水都在最低工資以上。
:: 形容詞 ::
stingy 小氣的，吝嗇的
- He's really stingy and never buys the drinks when we go out. 他非常小氣，我們一起出去時他從來不請喝酒。
- The landlords are so stingy - they refused to pay for new carpets. 房東太小氣了——他們拒絕掏錢買新地毯。
mean 吝嗇的，小氣的，摳門的
- He's too mean to buy her a ring. 他太吝嗇了，捨不得買一枚戒指給她。
- Her husband is very mean about money. 她的丈夫在金錢上很吝嗇。
- My landlord's very mean with the heating - it's only on for two hours each day. 我的房東對使用暖氣很吝嗇——每天只開兩個小時。
cheap 小氣的，吝嗇的，摳門的
- He's so cheap he didn't even buy me a card for my birthday.
- 他真小氣，居然連張生日卡都沒給我買。
- Oh, please, Dad, just this once don't be cheap. 哦，拜託啦爸，就這一次而已，別那麼小氣。
- Don't be cheap—buy good quality tires for your car. 別吝嗇，為你的車買好品質的輪胎。
penny-pinching 吝嗇的，小氣的，摳門的
- penny-pinching就是指不願意花錢的，也可以當名詞比喻盡可能花愈少錢愈好的樣子。
- He is a penny-pinching miser. 他是一個小氣的吝嗇鬼。
- I became tired of his penny-pinching friends. 我厭倦了他那些小氣的朋友。
- Government penny-pinching is blamed for the decline in food standards. 政府過度縮減支出是食品標準下降的主因。
tight-fisted 用錢不大方的，吝嗇的
- Don't wait for Gillian to buy you a drink - she's too tight-fisted. 別等吉莉恩會給你買飲料——她這人太小氣。
- The company's tightfisted owner won't raise the workers' salaries. 這間公司小氣的所有人不願調高工人的薪水。
parsimonious /ˌpɑːr.səˈmoʊ.ni.əs/ [正式/書面用詞] 吝嗇小氣的，過度節儉的
- She's too parsimonious to heat the house properly. 她太節儉了，連給房子供足暖氣都捨不得。
- The company is parsimonious with employee benefits. 這間公司在員工福利方面相當吝嗇。
- Laura was not mean but she was parsimonious, in the way of the war generation. 蘿拉不是苛薄，而是因生於戰爭世代養成了小氣的性格。
:: 動詞 ::
skimp on (something) 省著用；吝惜；捨不得；節省
動詞skimp意指「花的比本該花的更少」，比如說，為維持一定的水準，應該要花費到某個金額，卻因為節省而沒花那麼多。因此skimp有「省過頭」的意涵，太過節省而影響到品質。
- Many families must skimp on their food and other necessities just to meet the monthly rent. 許多家庭必須省吃減用，才能繳得起房租。
- Older people tend to skimp on food or heating. 老一輩的人多半會節省食物和暖氣。
- Do not skimp on the butter. 奶油可別放太少。
- Parents shouldn't skimp when it comes to their child's safety. 說到孩子們的安全，家長們千萬省不得。
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